Thoughtleadership for Successful
CRM and Sales Process

Posts Tagged as‘sales tools’

As the CEO of a CRM company, I often get asked the question why CRM systems in some companies don’t get used by the salesforce. Companies invest thousands of dollars in their CRM system and often find the adoption rate is not what they expected.

Here are the top ten quotes I hear why the CRM system did not get the adoption that was initially expected:

1. “All of this time I spend typing could be spent selling!”

2. “My company now has access to all of the customer relationships I built … which I feel I own. The company could fire me tomorrow and keep all of the contacts and relationships I've built!”

3.“There is little to no added benefit to me, with lots of value to big brother!”

4. “I'm on the road all day selling … and then am expected to update the CRM when I get home or back to the office after a long day!”

10. “It provides too much visibility & accountability into what I'm really doing, and I like it better when I can play my hand close to the vest until the end of the month/quarter!”

To address these top 10 “adoption excuses,” here are the seven best practices I’ve learned over the years to maximize adoption and usage.

Make it a productivity carrot.The CRM needs to be positioned as a tool that will help the sales organization sell more goods and services so they earn larger commissions. Sounds simple. I see many management teams however, using their CRM as simply a reporting stick for their sale teams.

Tools such as presentation templates, proposal documents, personal reporting tools, task lists, Outlook integration and sales process checklists will improve the efficiency and productivity of the sales team. Very quickly, you need to demonstrate to the sales team WIFM (“what’s in it for me”).

Use it to manage your organization.If you’re the sales VP, run your meetings and reviews from the CRM, including forecast meetings, pipeline reviews and exception reporting. Establish dashboards which you share with your sales leaders to show them you personally are leveraging and using the system. Also ensure senior management is using and benefiting from the system. Bottom-line, you should lead by example.

Get the data right.A CRM works only if the underlying data is correct. You need to have best practices to make sure data is consistent, clean and maintained. Establish drop down fields where appropriate to ensure data integrity. Each person who using the CRM must take personal ownership of the integrity of the data.

Train the team. It should go without saying, if the sales staff is not trained on how to benefit from using the CRM, it will not get used. Many CRM vendors like CampaignerCRM have comprehensive end-user training sessions that can be leveraged so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

The training should reinforce the sales process, organizational terminology, custom fields and other tools to make it contextually relevant. A role-based training may make sense depending on the size of the organization. Ideally the training is done as close as possible to the go-live date for the CRM. Many vendors will customize this training for your organization.

Sounds simple, but many companies do not have proper training plans to support the rollout of the system.

Integrate Your Sales ToolsMany CRM’s include libraries to maintain customer engagement letters, product presentations, price lists, catalogs, contracts, etc. Make sure the CRM is populated with the current version of all the documents and collateral at launch.

Flow All New Leads to the CRM The lifeblood of any sales organization is new leads. Make the CRM the single source of all new leads for the sales team.

Spread the word.Here’s several ways to reinforce adoption. When appropriate distribute “success stories” of those that have used the CRM effectively to close business. You may also want to consider contests and spiffs to reinforce adoption. I’d suggest every job description and performance appraisal within the sales team should include reference to using the CRM.

The ultimate adoption strategy for any CRM is the sales team realizing higher bookings and commissions from using the system. The seven best practices above will help the sales team realize the CRM is a tool that can truly help increase customer loyalty and help them sell more, which is the ultimate way to deal with the top 10 excuses!

Let’s face it…most sales teams (if not all) don’t have a bench of "A" players that consistently knock the cover off the ball. As much as most sales organizations strive to have one, it just doesn’t happen.

With that being said, there are some tools that are out there to help in adopting and replicating organizational best practices and driving efficiency gains to assist in elevating that middle or low performing rep up the stack a level or two.

…outside of an open requisition advertising their position for hire - here are some sales tools to help drive sales rep productivity.

TimeTrade: We have recently implemented the TimeTrade software into the CampaignerCRM sales team and have seen some immediate productivity gains. By adding self-serve appointment scheduling, we have reduced the amount of "voicemail hell" and have connecting with prospects to schedule meetings at a time convenient to their schedules.

• Lets prospects book sales meetings at the height of their interest—right from your website, landing page or email campaign.

• Helps you reclaim the time your reps waste on back-and-forth emails and phone calls to schedule sales appointments.

• Is proven to improve close rates by 20 to 30% and reduce the sales cycle by 30%.

PS. Not this isn’t a product or sponsorship pitch for Timetrade, CampaignerCRM made the investment – it works – and I am more than happy to evangelize something that is helping my team!

CampaignerCRM: OK, I am going to be a little biased on this one – however, rightfully so. There’s a tremendous amount of both customer and scientific validation that verifies that CampaignerCRM was built differentiated for actual sales results. This tool is the ONLY CRM that provides a step-oriented Lead & Opportunity workflow selling process that helps sales professionals sell – novel idea, huh?

Netprospex : As most know – there are a TON of options when looking for community driven contact databases. There is Jigsaw, Hoovers, Zoominfo, etc….but, I have used and have been most impressed by Netprospex. Here are some reasons why…

• It’s Growing - Fresh contacts are added every day by the boatload.

• It’s Verified - Contacts are phone verified to ensure accuracy.

• It’s Crowd-sourced - Contacts are user-generated by a community of business professionals. This is one of the best ways to find those tough-to-find roles within a small company that flies under the radar and isn’t mainstream yet.

• It’s Web-based - Need I say more?

• It’s Social - Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin URLs are provided for each contact when available.

LinkedIn: This is a given…if you have to "Google" this company or are not sure who or what they do, please retire from sales, effective immediately!

Boxpilot: Boxpilot is the leader in guided voicemail, which means they take a voicemail message that's been recorded by you and deliver it to everyone on your list. Designed for B2B, they actually use live human agents to accurately "guide" your pre-recorded message into the right person's voice mailbox. So, ever wonder how to blanket that pool of prospects effectively to get the word out? This is a great tool to try and touch critical mass.

There are a lot of great tools out there – some listed above, others that may not have been mentioned. The point here is that there’s great technology out there that could become a game-changer for your sales organization. Don’t be afraid to try some of them out, you might just like them!

Technology has forever changed the sales landscape and leveled the playing field more than ever imagined possible. Those who don't embrace and integrate technology into their sales activities are left in the dust wondering why they lost the sale.

In the past, sellers controlled the flow of information to the buyer. Today buyers have easy access to websites, blogs, consumer reviews, peer groups and referrals without ever speaking with a salesperson (scary, right?). Information is freely available to those who seek it. To keep pace with the speed of business you must (I repeat MUST) utilize Sales 2.0 tools to remain effective.

To be effective in sales today, it's important that sellers embrace technology and leverage it for competitive advantage. Sales experts have coined the term 'Sales 2.0' to describe the paradigm shift affecting sales professionals in the modern era. Years ago buyer and seller met face to face to consummate a sale. Relationships had to be forged over dinner and drinks, a networking event or round of golf. The telephone and fax were the only way to conduct business when buyers and sellers weren't running up the cost of sale. Technology has accelerated the sales cycle and proven time and time again that times are changing.

Successful sales professionals utilize technology to create a unique buying experience and to differentiate themselves from the competition. I'd like to share with you several technologies that have helped me and my clients to communicate and collaborate in new and meaningful ways. I challenge you to consider what's in your Sales 2.0 toolkit.

My Sales 2.0 Toolkit (in no particular order):

Tungle.me - a free yet powerful scheduling application that connects with your existing calendar. Tungle eliminates double-bookings, back and forth emails about when to meet and accommodates time zone differences. With Tungle, my prospects and customers can reach me without delay and schedule a meeting.

Linked In - add to your personal and professional network, garner recommendations, connect with peers and other social groups and more. Utilize LinkedIn during the sales cycle to show your qualifications and refer others.

CampaignerCRM - sales checklists and workflow to better manage deal flow, live personal sales assistants to help with data entry, mobile app for Smartphone access and a private portal for communication and collaboration (Okay, I am a bit biased here).

Twitter - see what others saying (customers, competitors and more). Position yourself as a thought leader in your space.

EchoSign - sign contracts without the hassle of paper (what could be better than closing deals faster?).

Skype - communicate with team members in real time without delay (ever need a quick answer to a technical question from the engineer down the hall?)

If you're not using technology to enhance your sales performance, rest assured that your competitors are. Without the right tools to keep you at the top of your profession you are risking not only the sale but your career. I encourage you to check out some of these tools and give them a try. After all, you have nothing to lose but the sale.